-one / -accio

In Italian, these are called alterati (altered words). They allow speakers to express size and judgment concisely.

1. The Augmentative (Accrescitivo): -one / -ona
This suffix indicates large size or high intensity.

• Gender Shift: A notable rule is that feminine nouns often become masculine when using -one to emphasize size (e.g., la macchina → il macchinone). When this shift occurs, the indefinite article and adjective agreement must match the new masculine gender (e.g., un donnone, un macchinone nuovo, NOT nuova), even if referring to a woman.
• Feminine Form: If you wish to maintain the feminine gender, the suffix -ona is used (e.g., una casona, una donnona).
• The Plural Trap: Be careful with plurals! Masculine nouns in -one become -oni (i macchinoni), while feminine nouns in -ona become -one (le donnone). This creates a confusing overlap where the feminine plural (le donnone) is spelled exactly the same as the masculine singular (il donnone).
• Nuance: It can be positive or affectionate (fratellone - big brother).
• Modifying Adjectives: When added to adjectives, these suffixes typically turn them into nouns (a process called sostantivazione) to describe a person with that trait (e.g., pigro → il pigrone, the lazybones), even if they can sometimes be used in apposition to a noun (e.g., un gatto pigrone).
• Derivation from Verbs: While technically derivation (creating an agent noun) rather than true alteration, the same suffix is commonly attached to verb stems to describe people's habits (e.g., mangiare → mangione/big eater, chiacchierare → chiacchierone/chatterbox).

2. The Pejorative (Peggiorativo/Dispregiativo): -accio / -accia
This suffix indicates that something is of poor quality, ugly, or unpleasant.

• Usage: It is very common with weather (tempaccio) or bad impressions (figuraccia). It can also be applied to nouns like freddo (e.g., fa un freddaccio - it's bitterly cold) or to adjectives turned nouns, such as poveraccio (poor soul/wretch).
• Plural Rule: Nouns ending in -accia drop the 'i' in the plural (e.g., figuracce).
• Nuance: While usually negative, it is frequently used to express genuine sympathy or pity (e.g., poveraccio - poor soul), or it can be jokingly affectionate and teasing (e.g., ragazzaccio - rascal/bad boy).

3. Important Notes:

• Spelling Rule: Nouns ending in a soft -cio, -cia, -gio, or -gia keep the 'i' when adding -one or -accio to maintain the soft sound (e.g., bacio → bacione, faccia → facciaccia).
• Irregular Roots: Some words change their root slightly when adding these suffixes. For example, cane (dog) becomes cagnone or cagnaccio, and uomo (man) becomes omone.
• Modifying Adverbs: These suffixes can also be attached to certain adverbs to intensify or alter their meaning. Common examples include bene → benone (very well) and male → malaccio (not too bad, usually used in the negative: non c'è malaccio).
• Suffix Stacking: Suffixes can be combined for extra emphasis. For example, -accio and -one are frequently combined (e.g., uomo + accio + one = omaccione, a big, burly man).
• Lexicalized Alterati: Some true alterati have evolved to have a specific, independent dictionary meaning (alterati lessicalizzati). For example, portone means 'main building entrance', ombrellone means 'beach umbrella', and minestrone means 'vegetable soup'.
• False Alterati: Some words look like they have these suffixes but are independent words (falsi alterati). For example, bottone (button) is not a 'big barrel' (botte), and limone (lemon) is not a 'big file' (lima).